Senior U.S. defense officials have held preliminary discussions with the chief executives of General Motors and Ford Motor about potentially converting civilian manufacturing capacity to weapons production.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Pentagon is exploring whether commercial manufacturers can shore up a defense industrial base strained by simultaneous conflicts in Iran and Ukraine.

The talks, which reportedly began before the full escalation of the Iran conflict, gained urgency as U.S. military stockpiles faced significant depletion, including an estimated 150 THAAD interceptors fired in just 12 days during the June 2025 Iran conflict, roughly a quarter of the entire inventory ever purchased.

Defense officials also confirmed talks with GE Aerospace and Oshkosh, though the scope of potential production, from vehicle components to advanced munitions, remains under review.

Any conversion wouldn't be immediate. Retooling auto plants for military hardware is expensive and time-consuming, and modern weapons systems involve classified materials and specialized processes that commercial manufacturers are not typically equipped for.

GM responded to inquiries with a non-committal statement affirming its historic support for U.S. national security. A full pivot comparable to World War II's "Arsenal of Democracy", when Ford built one B-24 bomber per hour, remains a distant scenario, but the conversations signal growing concern in Washington.